Yasser Arafat

ARTICLES ABOUT YASSER ARAFAT BY DATE - PAGE 2

Michael M. Adler National Chairman National Jewish Democratic Council Miami, November 3, 2006

Charlie Crist's attack on U.S. Rep. Jim Davis during last week's gubernatorial debate for meeting with Yasser Arafat when he was president of the Palestinian Authority is an example of the cheap shots that have become all too common in Crist's struggling campaign ("Attack ads grow harsher in the race for governor," Oct. 26). The facts are that until June 2002 Arafat was meeting with scores of U.S. officials. Among those with whom he met were prominent Republican congressional leaders and even George W. Bush's first Secretary of State, Colin Powell.

Tuesday's letter, "Hating president is not a plan," nailed the problem of the Democratic voters in Palm Beach County, particularly the Jewish Democratic voter. The Republican Party, without exception, has backed the state of Israel. While President Bill Clinton was parading Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat around the White House, first lady Hillary was having photo ops hugging Arafat's wife. President Bush never allowed Arafat near the White House. This administration's goal of destroying the insurgency in Iraq would only help the state of Israel in stabilizing democracy in the Middle East.

How sad that Palestinians have to contribute their own money to support the Hamas government. What happened to all those millions that Yasser Arafat had stashed in Swiss banks and his wife has control over? Shouldn't that money go back to their people? There is no mention of it since he passed away.

Who are these idiots who are saying that if the United States denies aid to the Palestinians, "the people" will suffer? Well, guess what? "The people" voted for Hamas and "the people" also voted for Yasser Arafat. With all the money we gave him, Mrs. Arafat is lunching at the Ritz in Paris. Also, how long do you think Israel will sit still for not pre-empting the countries and governments who are threatening to "wipe them off the face of the map"? The United States does not have enough money to give Israel to stop that.

As I watched the images from Gaza on Friday -- the shocked Fatah activists burning cars and firing rifles -- I couldn't help thinking that Yasser Arafat didn't live in vain. He instilled habits of mind that still shape his people. Arafat channeled Palestinian aspirations into a romantic cause. He created symbols: the kaffiyeh, stubble and gun. He created a nationalist mythology, and instilled in his followers a revolutionary mentality: that political struggle is heroic; that lofty militancy is better than mundane governance; that vehemence is better than compromise; that opponents are evil, terrorism is noble and the eventual triumph will be sublime.

Twelve months ago I created an award, named after the philosopher Sidney Hook, to honor the best political and cultural essays of the year. Since then, two things have happened. First, dozens of people have told me I should rename the awards the Sidneys instead of the Hookies, so they will sound less puerile. Second, thousands of writers, motivated by the chance to win this career-capping and soul-fulfilling prize, have worked unstintingly to refine their thinking, thus raising public discourse to a level unmatched since the age of Pericles.

By Steven Erlanger and Lawrence K. Altman The New York Times, September 8, 2005

The medical records of Yasser Arafat, which have been kept secret since his unexplained death last year at a French military hospital, show that he died from a stroke that resulted from a bleeding disorder caused by an unidentified infection. The first independent review of the records, obtained by The New York Times, suggests that poisoning was highly unlikely and dispels a rumor that he may have died of AIDS. Nonetheless, the records show that despite extensive testing, his doctors could not determine the underlying infection.

Back in the era of Yasser Arafat, Palestinian legislators were inclined to rubber-stamp just about anything their longtime leader asked of them. If they didn't, the autocratic Arafat would simply ignore their wishes. But this week, something unusual happened in the halls of the Palestinian parliament: Deputies rose up and said they did not want corruption-tainted cronies of Arafat to serve in the new Cabinet. On Tuesday, after two days of stormy debate, some of it held in predawn hours, Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia agreed to overhaul the Cabinet lineup.

Mahmoud Abbas talks as a man of peace, yet his actions are those of a man of war. A man desiring long-term peaceful co-existence would first declare null and void all official Palestinian documents claiming that the U.N. committed an illegal act when it mandated land for the Jewish state of Israel and then pass a law that makes it a crime to attack Israelis or to incite against Israelis. He has done none of this, but instead this second in command under Yasser Arafat who did not differ with Arafat in goal but in tactics to accomplish the annihilation of the Jewish state will not disarm Hamas, Islamic Jihad or Fatah organizations legally committed to Israel's destruction.

Edward Hanauer's Jan. 3 commentary on "A Just Peace for Israelis and Palestinians" does little to advance such a goal for either group. During the 1920s, '30s and '40s, the Palestinian people might well have created a separate state if not for the lack of leadership of the Grand Mufti, Amin al-Husseini, whose attacks and riots against the Jewish population made impossible any cooperation in such an effort. Acceptance of the U.N. partition plan in 1948 would have provided a two-state solution at that time.